Biodiversity and its conservation are among the main global topics in science and politics and perhaps the major challenge for the present and coming generations. This book written by international experts from different disciplines comprises general chapters on diversity and its measurement, human impacts on biodiversity hotspots on a global scale, human diversity itself and various geographic regions exhibiting high levels of diversity. The areas covered range from genetics and taxonomy to evolutionary biology, biogeography and the social sciences. In addition to the classic hotspots in the tropics, the book also highlights various other ecosystems harbouring unique species communities including coral reefs and the Southern Ocean. The approach taken considers, but is not limited to, the original hotspot definition sensu stricto and presents a chapter introducing the 35th hotspot, the forests of East Australia. While, due to a bias in data availability, the majority of contributions on particular taxa deal with vertebrates and plants, some also deal with the less-studied invertebrates. This book will be essential reading for anyone involved with biodiversity, particularly researchers and practitioners in the fields of conservation biology, ecology and evolution.

Part I Introductory AND GLOBAL Aspects

Chapter 1

Russell A. Mittermeier, Will R. Turner, Frank W. Larsen, Thomas M. Brooks, Claude Gascon:

Global Biodiversity Conservation: The Critical Role of Hotspots

Chapter 2

Christine B. Schmitt:

Tough Choices Approaches towards the Setting of Global Conservation Priorities

Chapter 3

T. Jonathan Davies, Mark W. Cadotte:

Quantifying Biodiversity Does It Matter What We Measure?

Chapter 4

John N. Williams:

Human Population and the Hotspots Revisited: a 2010 assessment

Chapter 5

Jens Mutke, Jan H. Sommer, Holger Kreft, Gerold Kier, Wilhelm Barthlott:

Plant Diversity in a Changing World: Global Centres and Biome-Specific Trends

Chapter 6

Guido Barbujani, Vincenza Colonna:

Genetic Basis of Human Biodiversity: an Update

Part II biodiversity in the Palaearctic

Chapter 7

Godfrey M. Hewitt:

Mediterranean Peninsulas The Evolution of Hotspots

Chapter 8

Georg Grabherr, Michael Gottfried, Harald Pauli:

Global Change Effects on Alpine Plant Diversity

Chapter 9

Ronald Sluys, Mansour Aliabadian, Cees S. Roselaar:

European Hotspots as Evidenced by the Palaearctic Distribution of Songbirds

Chapter 10

Andreas Schuldt, Thorsten Assmann:

Patterns and Hotspots of Carabid Beetle Diversity in the Palaearctic Insights from a Hyperdiverse Invertebrate Taxon

Chapter 11

Miklós Bálint, Lujza Ujvárosi, Kathrin Theissinger, Stephanie Lehrian, Noémi Mészáros, Steffen U. Pauls:

A Neglected Diversity Hotspot: Genetic Variation in the Carpathians

Part III Biodiversity in madagascar

Chapter 12

Nadine V. M. Fritz-Vietta, H. Barry Ferguson, S. Stoll-Kleemann, Jörg U. Ganzhorn:

Conservation in a Biodiversity Hotspot: Insights from Cultural and Community Perspectives in Madagascar

Chapter 13

Philip-Sebastian Gehring, Jörn Köhler, Axel Strauß, Roger D. Randrianiaina, Julian Glos, Frank Glaw, Miguel Vences:

The Kingdom of the Frogs Anuran Radiations in Madagascar

Chapter 14

Stefan Lötters, Dennis Rödder, Jos Kielgast, Frank Glaw:

Hotspots, Conservation and Diseases: Madagascar's megadiverse amphibians and the potential impact of chytridiomycosis

Part IV biodiversity in the tropics

Chapter 15

Janice S. H. Lee, John Garcia-Ulloa, Lian P. Koh:

Impacts of Biofuel Expansion in Biodiversity Hotspots

Chapter 16

Kristen J. Williams, Andrew Ford, Daniel Rosauer, Naamal De Silva, Russell Mittermeier, Caroline Bruce, Frank W. Larsen, Chris Margules:

Forests of East Australia: The 35th Biodiversity Hotspot

Chapter 17

Nigel E. Stork, Steve Goosem, Stephen M. Turton:

Status and Threats in the Dynamic Landscapes of Northern Australia's Tropical Rainforest Biodiversity Hotspot: the Wet Tropics

Chapter 18

Christian Sturmbauer, Martin Husemann, Patrick Danley:

Explosive Speciation and Adaptive Radiation of East African Cichlid Fishes

Chapter 19

Inter- and Intraspecific Biodiversity in Southeast Asian Rodents: New Insights for their Conservation

Chapter 20

André Koch:

The Amphibians and Reptiles of Sulawesi: Underestimated Diversity in a Dynamic Environment

Chapter 21

M. C. Ribeiro, A. C. Martensen, J. P. Metzger, M. Tabarelli, F. Scarano, M. J. Fortin:

The Brazilian Atlantic Forest: A Shrinking Biodiversity Hotspot

Chapter 22

Marco Rieckmann, Maik Adomßent, Werner Härdtle, Patricia Agu...